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Sorrow
Story Synopsis The Doctor and his companion Sam return to her home colony in the far future, only to loose the TARDIS and find the planet under siege from an alien race known as the Necronauts. Can the Doctor have them see sense before its too late for everyone? Plot to be added Continuity to be added Production info Cast Matthew Chambers Doctor: Matthew Chambers Sam: Candice O'Beirne Terrin: Ursula McCabe Governor: Melissa Reizian Frank Skillin: Chris Thomson Skillin: Scott Thomson Eskrin: Jarrod Frank Crew Sound Design: Matthew Chambers Music: Wendy Carlos, Eric Serra, Mark Ayres, Murray Gold and John Murphy Original Theme: Ron Grainer Arrangement: Murray Gold Cover Art: Matthew Chambers Director/Producer: Matthew Chambers Production Notes Reviews This episode, for me, sums up what 'Amateur' Doctor who audios are all about. Excellent performances from both Matthew and Samantha sell the story and reinforce the plotline. Matthew's Doctor was very likeable, perhaps echoing Colin Baker's performance in the role, which I happen to like, even in serials such as Timelash. Performances from Christopher and Scott Thomson were sometimes weak, which didn't help to suspend my disbelief in the sci-fi that was being explained. The pairs' performance was more comical than menacing, although this may have been intentional. Either way, the humour was a welcome addition to this serial. This audio carries a strong cast all in all, including some unfamiliar voices, which was a nice surprise. All the lines were spoken with clarity, bar a couple which weren't hard to summarise in the end. The love affair between Sam and Terrin, whilst touching within the story, seemed a little wooden. To say the character were in love, they were a little formal. The music was very successfully implemented, and added to the altogether very atmospheric mis en scene of the whole piece. The edit was very tight and, although there were a couple of awkward sound levels between cast members, the pace built adequately enough. Fresh sound effects throughout kept me entertained, and because non were recycled heavily, they never became mundane. I particularly liked how sounds were merged with others to form similar but intricately different environments for the characters. The laser and scream sounds from the supposed dying millions in the bombardment helped add scale to the piece. The script itself gives life to characters that in the wrong hands could have become mere cardboard cut-outs, the Necronaught back-story being viable enough to give them a purpose and a reason for being within the story, rather than just another threat. This is just the sort of story I like, enough sci-fi to get my teeth into, and ponder the hours away, but enough drama to carry it and make it entertaining without it being dull. My favourite part of the story has to be the twist where the Necronaughts have a little spat and the second Necronaught (Scott), takes control. The Doctor's ability to blend witty phrases like 'Hello all', and 'she's dead' into the same ten seconds is something Matthew is wonderful at. We also see a vulnerable and fearful side to the Doctor with his willingness to leave in the TARDIS The Explosive conclusion to this story gives it the feel of a sci-fi action epic on the scale of one of the Star Wars films, and Matthew's performance at Sam’s heartbreak doesn't put a downer on the plot surprisingly, but is touching to say the least. Over all then, this story really is a welcomed edition to the DAM audio franchise, surpassing classics like 'Tempromancy of the Daleks' and 'Arlington Hall' and rivalling Big Finish's attempts at delving into the Who universe... Quality. ''by Luke Pietnik' Links Streaming audio page @ damproductions.org See also Sorrow